I have read the previous post about late 80-91 hondas. My car idles great and always starts on the first try. My problem is that it sputters or looses power once in a while when I am driving. It has never stalled while driving.I have taken it to the shop and they have checked everything they think it might be. They have checked all the sensors.

I have a new distributor and dist cap & fuel filter. After I got the fuel filter changed the car worked great for about 2 weeks. Then the problem started again. Could I have a dirty gas tank?

The mechanic said that he thinks my gas tank might have some rust in it. He advised that I get some gas line anti freeze. I did and it still has the problem. Does anyone have any idea what it might be?

Are you getting any error codes?

My '90 Civic is doing the same thing. Sometimes it runs strong, sometimes it jerks and doesn't want to accelerate. I'm going to try a fuel system cleaner on my next tank of gas - see if it helps anything. You might want to try the same.

No error codes. I took it to another mechanic yesterday and he said.

It could be the fuel injectors.
Oxygen sensor.
Water in gas tank.

He also wanted to change all the fluids in the car. I am going to do a radiator flush today and also add gumout to the next fill up. 2 mechanics pretty well stumped and can't say for sure how to fix it.

He did say that the plugs have a white powder on them and is not sure why that has happened. I just replaced the distributor/cap/rotor 3 weeks ago. The rotor already shows little signs of wear. He said it was because it was sparking.

I am about ready to sell the car.. UGH

After you get the fuel filter changed the car worked great for about 2 weeks. Then the problem started again. You could have a VERY dirty gas tank.
You may remove the gas filter and blow into the filter in the same direction as the direction of the gas direction to see if there is a blockage on your new filter. Good luck.
:)

A few years back I acquired a Datsun 260 Z. It started fine, but when driving it was like a bucking bronco, speeding up and slowing down of its own accord. After doing everything including cleaning the injectors and a new fuel pump and filter, nothing helped. On the advice of a race car ace mechanic I dropped the fuel tank, cleaned out any fuel residue, cut a 4 x 5 inch access hole in it to expose the fuel pick up. The screen was clogged with rust and crud so that at idle it provided enough gas, but starved when accelerating. WD-40 and compressed air cleaned out the blockage. A metal patch with a gasket covered the hole. Car ran great.

Good luck

I have a 1991 Honda Civic Standard Hatchback (4-cyl, 4-speed with a completely rebuilt engine and transmission that has 3,000 miles on it - so new plugs, wires, rotor, etc... and they are performance parts as well) and experienced the same symptoms... and discovered that the hesitation is related (in my case but could be yours as well and worth checking ! ) to my cooling system not being properly filled and sealed! Make sure that your coolant level is between the min and max when the engine is cold, more closer to min than maximum, and also that your cooling system is completely shut (the cover to the reservoir is screwed on tight) and no leaks. In reading other posts and the repair manuals I have discovered that by confirming and making sure the coolant level is correct and the system is sealed that it fixed my problem with cold engine hesitation at all speeds. There is reference in the repair manuals between the engine temp and cooling system as related to the performance of the fuel injection setup. If you think about it... it does make sense. Hope this simple observation helps others as I know it can be very frustrating!

Mine is a honda standard 4 cylinder 4 speed 12oocc 9i model, i solved that jerking problem and sometime does not want to accelerate by cleaning curb and adding fuel filter just after the fuel pump, you can add two to be sure gas going in the curb is clean. Everytme i got this problem i find dirt,sediment, rust inside the fuel cap of the curb.